About the Museum

The New Jersey Naval Museum (NJNM) was a museum located along the Hackensack River in Hackensack in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. Its mission was dedicated to the state's naval heritage and naval history in general. The prominent element in the collection was the ex-United States Navy USS Ling, a 312-foot (95 m) long Balao-class submarine of World War II. The museum land has since been sold for redevelopment, however, the Ling remains grounded in the river, with an uncertain future. Efforts have been made since 2007 to find a new home for the Ling. In 2019, the Louisville Naval Museum began a campaign to attempt to relocate the ship to the Ohio River. In September 2020 volunteers associated with the Louisville Naval Museum began to raise concerns on social media about improper accounting of donations made to the Louisville Naval Museum. The volunteers ceased working with the Louisville Naval Museum after one of the volunteers suffered a serious injury while working aboard the Ling in November 2020. The injured volunteer was subsequently awarded a default judgement of $468,584 in a suit against the Louisville Naval Museum. From 1972 until closing, the Museum had paid one dollar per year to rent its riverside site. In January 2007, the North Jersey Media Group, owner of the site, informed the museum that the site was going to be sold for redevelopment within the year and that the museum and submarine would need to be relocated.